


The Importance of Eating Citrus

by LogicalParafox (Solitarysynonym)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 13:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16556435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solitarysynonym/pseuds/LogicalParafox
Summary: Jade Harley owns some acreage and a house in a small town near wilderness. Over the years she has found and brought several other young not-quite-humans to join her in a way of life that suits their natures far better than trying to force themselves to thrive in cities.





	The Importance of Eating Citrus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Stripe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stripe/gifts).



As her dear, departed Grandfather had always insisted, preparation was key. Jade kept careful track of the moon phase, her monthly large purchases regular enough that her local butcher bemusedly began to stock up especially for her. "Have a good barbecue," he said cheerily as she handed over the sturdy canvas satchel to be filled with neatly paper-wrapped bundles of meat. Jade would smile and tell him that her guests told him he had best cuts. She slid him a good tip which he meticulously counted toward her next bill as he waved to her as the door closed. 

Jade did the grilling, John the baking. Despite his grumbling, he had a definite touch with dough and batter and all things sweet. Her greenhouse and gardens provided them with all the veg they and their guests could want. Jade set the table, the legs of it practically groaning under the weight of the roasts and bread and platters of sliced fruit she and John heaped upon it, set out on the paving stones at the heart of her garden, where they could enjoy the last of the setting sun and the profusion of green growing things that were Jade's pride and joy. 

"Knock knock," a voice called out, carrying a hint of smirk. 

"Rose! We're out in the garden!" 

"Well at least there's always something new," Rose said with her usual dry-as-dust humor. 

Jade, monitoring the grill, grinned at her, leaning her head down when Rose laid a hand on her bicep. Black-painted lips pressed briefly against Jade's cheek and she grinned at Rose. "Food's almost done," she said unnecessarily. 

"Well, at least you're wearing your apron." 

Jade grinned wider. The neon green apron bearing the words 'Don't Bite The Cook' had been a birthday present from Rose and served her well on these occasions. "John should be coming down any minute." She tipped her head to one side as she heard a murder begin to caw. "And it sounds like Dave is almost here." 

"Can't get anything past those fluffy ears," Dave drawled, not bothering with any sort of unnecessary knock. He set several large bottles of apple juice on the side cart that held the various drinks. Jade could see herself reflected in his shades. "For John," he said, as if she needed any explanation. "Neighbor had a good crop this year." 

"Good crop of what?" came John's voice and the last of their foursome appeared, carrying an absurdly large cake that Dave and Rose and Jade greeted with appropriate awe.

"Apples, of course. The orchard has been doing very well. Good call having us visit out there Harles, the fruit's so heavy it's falling to rot. Nobody misses a few bushels." 

Jade beamed at her best friends and pulled the last few steaks off of the grill, turning the heat to low for now as she carried the steaming pile over. The table was set for four, but an outsider might have been excused for thinking they meant to feed forty, the table was so heavy with food. 

John and Dave bickered as Dave poured John a large mug of apple juice. Rose brought out a large pitcher of sangria and poured some for herself and Dave. She offered some to Jade, who declined, preferring her wine without chunks. 

They sat down to eat as the sun slipped behind the mountains just out of the city limits. The darkness was familiar to them all. 

\-----

"John, you're going to get scurvy," Rose said, pouring him a large glass of lemonade and confiscating his apple juice. "Drink all of that to go with your half a cow and three quarters of a lamb. 

If his cheeks hadn't been so full, he would have stuck his tongue out at her, settling for accepting the cup and downing it in a few gulps once his mouth was clear. "Werewolves don't get scurvy," he said loftily, setting down his empty glass and reaching for his apple juice. 

Rose rapped his knuckles with the pomegranate she had just picked up. "You have to drink a glass of lime juice now too before you get your liquid apples back." 

John turned pleading eyes to Dave, who maintained his impassive face as he poured John a brimful glass of lime juice from the pitcher Rose had squeezed the citrus into earlier. Jade cackled appreciatively until Dave handed her one too. "Keep those teeth in your head Jade, you'd find it a lot harder to eat bunnies without those chompers." 

Jade sighed and drank down the sour stuff. "Preparation is key," she said in resignation, snagging another steak. 

Already they had put an appreciable dent in the feast they'd made. She and John had a tidy pile of bones that Dave would most likely take home to build even more horrifying scareravens out of. Well at this point they were more to terrify the local teens than anything as the corvids tended to sit and peck wistfully at the bones in hopes of lingering scraps. 

Farmers in the district didn't understand why their crops were thriving, though they welcomed the boon. Popular culture ran rampant with vampires and bats without remembering that, of the may species of bat, those that drank blood were very much in the minority. After all, fruit was a far more abundant resource and caused far fewer mobs. Small wonder Dave and Rose managed to thrive, so long as they kept their unusual eyes to themselves. Rose seemed pained to be thought some sort of tree-hugging eccentric, but it did mean that the local farmers had taken to her and Dave's actual eccentricities without fuss. 

They grew their own crops in the large acreage adjacent to the Harley-Egbert household, with Jade's assistance and presence to smooth their way with the local farmers. 

Her grandfather had brought her out here when it became clear that she had inherited the family curse, teaching the young werewolf where to hunt in the mountains away from humans and taught her that an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure. Every full moon she gorged herself ahead of time and carried extra snacks in her pack for when she came back to herself in the morning. She called it her wolf pack. 

("It's a fanny pack Harles," Dave said when he saw it. "It's a bright green fanny pack." 

"I wear it around my neck, Dave! It's not a fanny pack!" 

"Doesn't matter where you wear it. I know a fanny pack when I see one.")

\-----

Jade had known Dave the longest, a friend online long before either of them had admitted to their not-quite-human heritages. When he and Rose had admitted their natures at last, Jade had immediately clamored for them to join her in her secluded town. They could save a fortune on fruit if they grew their own. All the legends said that the frugivore vampires brought rich harvests with them. (Explaining to Dave and Rose about manure and its potential benefits had led to several days of horrified silence from them, but they'd come around eventually. Dave, once he realized that this could be considered an excuse to keep chickens... and crows.... and a horse.... had come around to the idea tremendously and further increased their stock with the local farmers who grew to prize his carefully composted and extremely rich manure that made everything in the area grow like Persephone herself walked among them.)

Rose missed the cities, but she found she could love the country when the three people she loved most in the world lived out here too. Her writing still sold, and living in a farm in a small town was very marketable, according to her publishers. She managed their fruit trees and small vineyard with an intensity that matched that of her numerous farm cats who kept the rodent populations down and contributed their own kills to Dave's composting. 

John had come last, his relationship with his father keeping him apart from the increasing draw of their peaceful enclave for a long time. His father wanted him to finish college, and he had. Jade respected his decision, but now that he was here.... she couldn't imagine him leaving again. Even in her wildest dreams she hadn't realized just how wonderful it would be to have her three favorite people in the world so close at hand. Monthly transformations had become... well... a picnic. Rose brought wine and various juices she distilled and prepared, Dave brought the fruit and vegetables that he and Jade grew and harvested with John. Jade grilled the meat that kept her and John safer to be around during the full moon and John baked and cooked all day to round out their meals. 

Jade and John devoured the meat while their vampiric companions teased them and made just as quick work of the fruits in solidarity. They weren't affected by the lunar cycles but there was comfort in all feasting together. 

\-----

"The moon's coming up," Jade said quietly, her ears pricking up, her coat beginning to sprout as the change began to take her. 

"We got the dishes," Rose said with a smile, elbowing Dave. 

"Yup, dishes," Dave said.

"Fangs for that," John said, his gleeful smile made more menacing as his face began to change shape, his teeth sharpening and extending. 

Rose shook her head in disgust. "Next time I'll just let you get scurvy." 

Jade yipped in amusement as she shed loose sundress and apron, shaking herself as the last few changes took hold, her tail wagging as she stretched happily. John, dark furred beside her gleaming white self kept close, still not quite able to trust that he wouldn't turn into a snarling monster. She nipped his ear, then licked it affectionately. Preparation was key. 

"Don't forget your fanny pack," Dave said, advancing on them without fear. Even stuffed to the muzzle with food, they would still be a mild danger to humans... but Rose and Dave need have no fear of their friends in either form. It was what made their relationships so well-matched. 

Jade growled at him, showing her teeth as he reached out to slide the bright green pack over her head. 

Even behind his dark shades, Jade could tell he was rolling his eyes. "Fine. _Wolf_ pack, your fuzziness." He stroked her ears and she licked his face, lower jaw dropping in a wolfish grin. 

"Gross Harley. Gross and uncalled for," he protested, pulling off his dark glasses to wipe the wolf spit off of them, shaking his head at her. 

Rose returned from carrying the first load of dishes inside, pausing to turn off the grill before resting a long-fingered hand on John's dark ruff. "Have a good run you two, we'll have breakfast for you in the morning." 

"Don't worry, Rose will be making it," Dave assured them. 

John huffed a laugh and bumped his shoulder against Rose's hip before he and Jade headed out into the wilderness where they could run and play until moon set. 

Dave watched them go, sliding his arm around Rose's waist. "...What's wrong with my cooking?" 

Rose rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek before giving him a light shove toward the table. "Get the rest of the dishes, then you're on drying duty." 

"You didn't answer my question." 

"If you don't know the answer, you're more hopeless than I thought."

**Author's Note:**

> Day seven of my piecemeal NaNoWriMo in the form of various works of fanfiction. This one goes out to Stripe!
> 
> Many thanks to various posts on tumblr that inspired me: smurflewis and kat8noghosts for their post and comment about fruit bat vampires making sure their carnivorous werewolf friends don't get scurvy, theunvanquishedzims for the idea of werewolves eating beforehand to mitigate the dangerousness of their shift, and last but not least dorksidefiker and ghostofasonnet for werewolves in fanny packs.


End file.
